Sunday, 7 December 2014

Albina, the border town in Eastern Suriname, is the gateway to French Guyana. I was attracted by the random angles of the boats on its beach. But when I started to study the subject the automobiles on the road posed a problem: should I omit them or include them? I decided to include them as they are part of the atmosphere and tell the character of the town as well as the boats below.

Sunday, 2 November 2014

A scene from our neighborhood. Paramaribo North is crisscrossed with canals, a Dutch influence. I was attracted by the peaceful quietude of the scene during a stroll with our guests from Canada last April and took a lots of reference photos out of which the composition was made.

Saturday, 25 October 2014

A piece of France in South America! The small town of St Laurent in French Guyana is on the Eastern border of Suriname. It can be reached from Albina, the boder town of Suriname. The only way to reach this place from Albina is to cross the river Marowine by boat! You cross the river and you are in Europe, virtually, in South America!

It houses the famous prison where 'Papillon' was kept and the film 'Papillon' was also filmed here!

My watercolour painting of a street in this town is here, 37x56 cm on Arches 640gms Paper.

Thursday, 2 October 2014

I used a reference photo (taken during our boat trip to this plantation in April this year with our visiting friends) for this painting. This plantation is one of the oldest in Suriname - now famous for its fish-joint which attracts lots of tourists. I included my guests waiting under the tree to add human interest! It was a sunny day with clear sky!